Dredging apparatus



Patented Dec. 2, 1952 DREDGING APPARATUS Charles Wildi, Lucerne,Switzerland Application October 21, 1947, Serial No. 781,062 In GreatBritain October 4, 1946 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patentexpires October 4, 1966 2 Claims.

The present invention comprises improvements in or relating to dredgingapparatus and relates more particularly to the means by which adjacentbuckets are secured together in dredging apparatus of the typecomprising an endless chain of pivotally interconnected buckets.

Such buckets are normally formed on one side with a pair of lugs ortheir equivalent known as the front eye which embrace a back eye of thenext adjacent bucket, and a bucket pin passes laterally .through thecoupling so formed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figures 1 and 2 show side and end elevations of a worn L-bucket pin ofthe prior art;

Figures 3 and 4 show side and end elevations of a bucket pin and liningelement fitted thereto, in accordance with this invention;

Figure 5 is a cross-section on the line 5 5 of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Figure 3.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the bucket pin l of the prior art isnormally of L shape and the L-head commonly pressed to a, landing by alockl ing device. Wear of the pin takes place mainly on that face inrubbing contact with the bushing disposed within the back eye as shownat 1 in Figure 1, and after a certain degree of wear, Worn pins arereplaced owing to the risk in operation of the dredger of losing acomplete chain of buckets if one pin fails completely. The discarding ofworn pins, however, wastes much metal and attempts have been made tobuild up worn bucket pins by electric welding.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a more simple meansof avoiding the necessity for discarding worn bucket pins.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a construction ofbucket pin whereby the parts subjected to Wear can :be replaced.

As shown in Figures 3 to 6, the bucket pin l is provided -with a liningelement .2 which pin and element are formed respectively withcooperating longitudinal recesses 8 and splines 9 to secure the liningelement against rotation relative to the pin. Any preferred arrangementof splines may, however, be adopted. The lining element is slid intoposition from one end of the pin and is secured against longitudinalmovement by the screw 3 seen in Figure 6. Assembly by means of screw 3may be employed for example during erection and transport as well asduring use.

The lining element is limited to a form in which it i-s disposed to meetthe Wear chiefly occurring on the pin i. e.. at the area of contact withthe back eye, the L-head being substantially fixed in relation to thefront eye. The lining element is preferably of wear resisting materialand the pin of material having great strength, so as to give the longestpossible service. Replacement of the lining element when worn ispossible with little waste of time, effort, or material and nodistortion, weakening or other undesirable effects due to Welding heat.

I claim:

1. A dredging bucket-pin comprising in combination a .body portion whichis cylindrical on a part of its circumference and is formed on theremainder of its circumference with recesses lying entirely within thecylindrical contour of the pin and extending lengthwise from one end ofthe body thereof, and a renewable lining element of wear-resistingmaterial which has splines on a part of its surface to mate with therecesses on the .body by insertion longitudinally therein and iscylindrical on the other part of its surface to complete substantiallythe cylindrical shape of the pin.

2. A dredging bucket-pin according to claim l Whereinthe lining elementhas a radial hole` through it, in combination with a peg situated insaid hole and screwed into the body of the pin.

CHARLES WILDI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Nam'e Date 1,629,818 Ferris May 24, 19272,105,048 Lavenstein Jan. 11, 1938 2,285,870 Parker June 9, 1942

